Saddle construction



July 21, 1925.

L. H. HAMLEY SADDLE CONSTRUCTION Filed July 5, 1924 INVENTOR.

Lesier H. Hamley- ATTORNEY.

Patented July 21, 1925. i

UNITED STATES LESTER H. HAMLEY, or PENDLLETON, onneou.

SADDLE CONSTRUCTION.

Application filed July 5,

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, Lns'rnn H. HAMLEY, a citizen of the United States, residing at 601 .Vest Court Street, Pendleton, county of Umatilla, and State of Oregon, have inventea new and useful Improvements in Saddle Constructions, of which the following is a specification.

The present invention relates to what is known as saddle rigging, and has for its objects, the provision of a unique saddle structure whereby the saddle may be secured to a horse without danger of producing what are commonly known as saddle sores or ring sores, and at the same time reduce the expense of producing the saddle. Additionally it is an object of this invention to provide a novel plate, adapted to be employed in saddle construction, for the purpose of receiving the latigo and permitting of the drawing of the saddle taut-1y about a horse without danger of undue strain upon the leather rigging ordinarily employed in the construction of western saddles,'said plate being designed to absorb the wear and tear incident to the use of a saddle.

These and such other objects as may hereinatter appear, are attained by the novel construction, combination, and arrangement of the various elements of the device, all of which are fully illustrated in the accompa. ying drawing, hereby made a part of this specification, and in which:

Figure 1 is an elevation showing the device attached to a saddle, the saddle being fragmental;

Figure 2 is a back or inside view of the plate, the subject of this application for patent; and

Figure 3 is a vertical section on the line of Figure 2.

Like reference characters are used to designate similar parts in the drawing retcrred to above and in the description of the device which follows.

Ordinarily, a saddlevcomprises a tree, indicated in Figure 1 by the numeral 10, and a leather rigging, designated by the ordinal 11 in said figure. Through said leather rigging 11, apertures 12 are provided, said apertures in 'an allleather rigging being adapted to receive the latigo 10', whereby all the strain of the saddle is centered upon the lower edge of the leather about aperture 12, resulting in the distortion and eventual destruction of the leather rlgging. Such 1924. Serial No. 724,375.

riggings require at least two thicknesses of leather, in order to give them suflicient strength to stand the strain of aflixing the saddle securely to the horse, making them exceedingly expensive, and considering the short life of all-leather riggings, such riggings are commercially not satisfactory.

In the invention here described, the leather rigging may be constructed of a sin gle thickness of leather, and upon the lower side of aperture, a plate, designated 13, is attached. A similar plate 13 is, of course, attached to the opposite side of the saddle, the construction of the plate admitting of its being reversed.

The plate 13 comprises a sheet of metal formed somewhat after a half ring, having enlarged end portions 14, through which. rivet holes 15 are punched. It is through said holes or apertures 15 that rivets are forced for the purpose of securing the plate 13 to the rigging 11 of the saddle.

Upon the upper portion of plate 13 and intermediate ends 14 a lip 16 is formed by turning the material of the plate 13 inwardly and downwardly, so that a groove or overlapping section is provided, such portion of the 'plate13 being adapted to receive therebeneath the abutting portion of the leather rigging 11.

hen plates 13 are so atlixed by the apertures 12- in the rigging 11, the latigo 10 is inserted through apertures 12, and, when pulled taut, presses upon the lip 16, thereby transferring the strain and stress of the saddle to the plate 13. In view of the attachment of the plate 13 to the rigging 11 in the manner here described and illustrated, the principal stress and strain which is centered upon the lip does not distort the rigging 11, for such strain is distributed about the whole of the rigging through the attachment of said plate 13 to the rigging by rivets passing through apertures 15 in said plate 13.

The frictional wear of the latigo 10 upon the saddle is absorbed by the lip 16, for no portion of the latigo 1O at any time comes in contact with the raw or finished edge of the leather about the apertures 12.

The construction here illustrated, as previously indicated, has all the advantages of an all-leather rigging, but none of the draw backs of short life, early distortion, destruction, or tremendous expense. None of the unhappy effects of a cincha rigging are proacter as will cause abrasions or soreness upon a horses back.

Having thus described' the' invention, what I claim is new and novel and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States, is

1 In 'a saddle, a'tree'; a covering therefor, a riggingafiixe d to said tree and having apertures therethrougln upon itsopposite sides, a" latigo, and a plate adapted to be inserted in saidapertures, said plate cornprising a half'rin'g member adapted to re ceive said' lati'go' upon its interior "surface.

2 The combination described in claim 1, and in which said plate is provided with an inwardly projecting. lip for preventing contact of the lati'go with the rigging.

3; Insa-ddle manufacture, a plate C0111- prising a half ring structure having enlarged'ends,andalip intermediate said ends and bent inwardly and downwardly to provide a friction protecting,surface"about the edges of anopening in a saddle V rigging;

4: A plate as described in claim 3, and which is reversible, whereby thesanie plate is -adapted to be' usedupon" oppositesides of a saddle.

LESTER H; HAMLE Y. 

